Short version:

A return to form for Panasonic, and a M4/3 camera that photographers won’t be suspicious of. Its weaknesses are largely the weaknesses of its class of camera, but beyond those it’s solid, comfortable, and fairly powerful. Not recommended for fidgety and manual focusers, but most shooters will be able to have a lot of fun with it.

Features:

• 16-megapixel micro four-thirds sensor
• 3″ 480×320 touchscreen
• Debuts with new 14-42mm 3.5-5.6 lens (power zoom or traditional)
• Stereo mic for HD video
• MSRP: $700 (body only) $950 (as reviewed, with 14-42mm power zoom)

Pros:

• Compact and easy to handle
• Most settings quickly accessible, some customizable
• Quick autofocus, good image quality up until ISO 6400

Cons:

• Manual focus not much fun
• Touchscreen seems slightly vestigial
• Thumb dial could be a lot meatier

Full review:

The GX1 represents Panasonic listening to its fans, who have been slightly dismayed at the continual consumerification of the M4/3 line. The original G-series set them out to be the serious, enthusiast’s M4/3 camera maker, but as the sensor and market advanced, we saw them focusing more on simplification and popularization. That trend is bucked with the GX1, the announcement of which many greeted with relief.

It’s clear from even a cursory examination that the GX1 is meant to be a “serious” camera. Its boxy but carefully designed shape, the thumb dial, the constellation of buttons. Although it will, in fact, take a picture when you press the shutter release button, it’s not the kind of camera you just hand to mom and say “take a few shots would you?”.

The design of the camera is straightforward and not very aggressive. The only real topography is found on the right side, where a fairly subtle bump on the front, highly textured, allows you to grip tightly. On the back, a thumbgrip that feels bigger than it looks (that’s a good thing) makes for easier one-handed operation, though you won’t be changing any settings while doing that.

There’s a fun little popup flash that’s elevated enough that you won’t catch the shadow of your lens in the picture. It’s not particularly powerful, but it’s there, and it’s fun to pop in and out.

I’d say my only real concern with the camera physically speaking is the thumb dial. It’s recessed just enough that rotating it is an effort. And getting to the secondary settings by pushing it in? Forget about it. I couldn’t do it reliably, and I wouldn’t want to have to rely on the push-and-turn mechanism at all. This dial could definitely stand to be bigger and have better feedback.

Touchable-ish

Its rear LCD is a touchscreen, though you wouldn’t really guess it from the look of the menus. It seemed to me that the touch capability was more of an afterthought, and while it can be handy (the little drawer of settings you can pull out from the right is nice), it’s not really useful for any kind of serious applications. For instance, you can see the image type being recorded (RAW+JPEG, for example) on the LCD, but touching it doesn’t bring up the menu for that setting. You have to go through the regular sub-menus, only some of which are touch-sensitive. And while you can, say, drag the histogram around or select a focus point, or drag through photos in playback mode, it still doesn’t really feel like it’s living up to its potential. Hopefully the GX2 will have a menu system designed around touch and d-pad from the ground up.

As for the menus and settings themselves, I found them easy and occasionally very convenient to use. In shutter priority mode, spinning the jog dial brought up a very helpful little dual ribbon showing aperture estimates for exposure length, and red zones for areas unlikely to produce a good shot. Similarly, the quick menu and d-pad buttons brought up useful settings quickly and I really felt like for the most part, I had access to almost every necessary setting within a second.

Shooting

The lens that our unit had, and one many will opt for, is a new compact 14-42mm F/3.5-5.6 with both power zoom and power focus. It’s very compact when the camera is off, but a front element protrudes about an inch when it’s powered on. The on/off process is fairly quick, so it’s no trouble to turn it off when you need the camera to be more portable, though I personally would prefer a nice pancake prime to minimize size. As a kit lens this isn’t bad at all, and it’s more compact than many of the zooms offered on other M4/3 platforms.

Autofocus is very fast and accurate; I preferred to use the “pinpoint” mode, which both speeds up focusing by reducing the points needed to poll and adds accuracy. I’m a “focus, then frame” kind of guy, and this camera worked very well with my style of shooting. Unfortunately, manual focus was… well, listless.

The actual shooting action feels and sounds good. If you’ve got your focus set, the shutter fires instantly when you push down the button, and while you have to dismiss the image preview before shooting another shot, it’s ready to fire again quite quickly — less than a second for me. Serious shooters will want to disable the image preview, or set it to one second. Starting video is just as quick via a dedicated button, great for when you’re taking shots of the kids or pet and something darling happens – no need to change modes.

Photo quality, though it is of course highly important, I don’t want to delve too deeply into. I’ll leave that to great sites like DPReview, where they can take the systematic approach warranted by a major camera like this one. But to speak anecdotally, I found that pictures were generally sharp, with very low noise up until ISO 6400. JPEGs are rendered a bit flat in the “standard” render style, and it’s definitely worthwhile to test out the other modes, which are fairly subtle. The art-style modes are a bit much, of course, and you can always do adjustments in post. Find a good JPEG style that agrees with your subject matter and do the effects later.

Here are a couple basic sample shots (be sure to open in new tab for full size). You can really see the flatness in the books and the pachinko machine. Most people would be unhappy with that, so it’s important to dig around in the settings on this thing.

And here are three pictures in relatively low light, just bright enough for handheld shots. The first is 3200, then 6400, then 12800, at a 20th, 30th, and 60th respectively to keep the aperture at just about wide open.

Not the sharpest shots, unfortunately. But they’re enough that you can really see the noise jump at 12800, and it’s certainly very present at 6400. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t feel any compunction shooting at 6400 if it was the only way to get the shot. 12800 is just too noisy, which can usually be said of any camera’s maximum ISO setting.

Video quality, from what I could tell, was comparable to other medium-size sensors, better than point and shoots of course but not as good as what you’d get on a Canon or Nikon APS-C. Perfectly all right for home videos, though I wouldn’t want to shoot a feature on it.

Conclusion

The GX1 is a powerful camera, but I sense that it still has one foot in the half-point-and-shoot territory of the GF3. This clearly wants to be a photographer’s camera; it’s not easy enough to use to be anything else. So why so many auto and art modes? Why a touchscreen and a galaxy of buttons? There’s just a hint of identity crisis here that its successor will hopefully address. But disregarding those issues, the GX1 is a powerful contender against the likes of Samsung, Sony, Olympus, and the rest, offering a sort of camera-lover’s camera without any gimmicks or weird styling. It’s practical, compact, and performs well. What more do you want?

Product page: Panasonic GX1

WiGig, a multi-gigabit speed wireless communications technology, was first announced back in 2009, but it’s taking companies like Panasonic quite a while to come up with applications that make use of it. Via WiGig, devices can communicate with each other at multi-gigabit speeds using the 60 GHz frequency band.

Panasonic has developed a prototype system, in which WiGig is embedded in a tablet that can wirelessly transmit data like photos or videos to displays mounted in the passenger seats of a car. That car has to be nearby: while Wi-Fi typically has a transmission range of about 30m, WiGig’s range is just 1-3m (Bluetooth: around 10m).

The tablet you can see in the video embedded below transmits a “full DVD video” in 60 seconds, according to Diginfo TV (which shot the video). WiGig, in the 1.1 specification, boasts a data transmission rate of up to 7 Gbit/s.

Panasonic is currently in the process of developing WiGig SD cards that are supposed to be commercialized in summer next year. WiGig-compatible phones are apparently on their way, too.

Here’s the video (in English):

Panasonic isn’t just making TVs, phones, or cameras, they are also producing household appliances. One such appliance has recently been introduced by Japanese business daily The Nikkei, and it’s probably the first cloud-based device for growing fruit and vegetables at home out there.

Four leaf vegetables can be grown in one so-called “Smart Vegetable Garden” (which is sized at 100x50x30cm) at the same time, with Panasonic claiming that owners can expect to harvest them in about 40 days – 30% less than using conventional methods. Apart from saving time, the device also integrates a cloud-based management system to track growth, for example by automatically screening the level of water and nutrients, or the temperature.

According to Panasonic, the device is not only safe for use within the kitchen but also outdoors (it’s also possible to connect multiple units).

The company plans to start selling the devices in Japan in the next fiscal year. One unit will cost a whopping US$7,800, but alternatively, buyers can opt for a US$180 monthly lease plan that includes the cloud-based management service. The device will also be bundled with home solar energy systems Panasonic is selling on the Japanese market.

Sorry for the small picture – Panasonic hasn’t included the Smart Vegetable Garden on its Japanese website for home appliances yet.

Panasonic has been partnering with Victor Co. of Japan, which in 2008 merged with Kenwood to become JVC Kenwood, since 1954. But yesterday JVC Kenwood announced [JP, PDF] that Panasonic, its largest shareholder and business partner, will go alone in the future.

Big P is apparently ready to sell 24,225,400 of its shares, a move that will make the company the seventh-largest shareholder in JVC Kenwood.

As far as voting rights are concerned, Panasonic’s stake will drop from 19.28% (as of September 30, 2011) to 1.75%. Panasonic is planning to set a price for the shares between January 17 and 19. Actual sales are scheduled to start at the end of the month, with the company being set to eventually sell all of its remaining shares in JVC Kenwood at some point in the future.

Panasonic cut its management ties with JVC Kenwood well before this ending of the capital relationship, namely during a shareholders meetings in April last year.

Big news from Asia’s mobile market today: Japan’s biggest mobile carrier NTT Docomo (55 million customers, over US$50 billion in sales per year) is teaming up with five other tech powerhouses to develop chips for next-generation mobile devices. Docomo’s partners are NEC, Fujitsu, Fujitsu Semiconductor Ltd., Panasonic, and Samsung.

The goal is to use synergies in the six companies’ expertise in developing small and eco-efficient chips to supply to mobile device manufacturers in Japan, Korea, and other places. Docomo says the main focus will be on “products for LTE and LTE-Advanced mobile communication standards”.

The carrier plans to set up a subsidiary ( “Communication Platform Planning Co.”) as early as next month, capitalize it at US$5.8 million, and turn that subsidiary into a fabless joint venture with the other partners in March next year. According to Japan’s biggest business newspaper The Nikkei, Docomo plans to become the biggest shareholder in the joint venture.

It took them quite a while, but as reported, Panasonic is finally ready to re-enter the global market for cell phones. After 2005, Big P has been selling handsets almost exclusively in Japan. The company today announced [JP] it will start expanding its mobile business to Europe in March 2012, starting with a yet to be named Android device.

Technical details are scarce at this point, but it seems clear that the biggest selling point will be the phone’s 4.3-inch OLED screen with QHD resolution (960×540). Panasonic also says that it will be NFC-equipped, with a “slim” and water- and dust-proof body (in black or silver).

The company views the European market as the first step to re-internationalize its mobile business: it plans to sell a total of nine million handsets in fiscal 2016 outside Japan (Europe, Asia, the US, China, etc.), plus another 6 million in its home market.

Panasonic hasn’t stated yet when (or if) this handset will hit America, too.

In the post-iPhone era, a lot of things changed in Japan, once the most admired country in the mobile world. The number of cell phone manufacturers, for example, has fallen from 13 to five after massive consolidation and re-organization, and all of the remaining players fight with a shrinking and rapidly greying domestic market.

That’s one of the reasons why Nippon’s cell phone makers have been talking about going international for a long time (years after basically all of them gave up on the world market), but now Panasonic seems to be ready to get serious.

Japan’s biggest business publication, The Nikkei, is reporting that the company is currently trying to strike a deal with a major telco in Europe to bring smartphones (Android handsets) to the continent. Apparently, Panasonic is thinking about whether to build the phones in one its own plants in South East Asia or outsource production to another company.

If all goes well, Panasonic also plans to eventually offer Android handsets in Asia and North America. The company has sold 4.4 million phones last year, but it wants to sell 7.5 million units internationally (per year) by 2015.

The picture above shows the Panasonic LUMIX Phone 101P that’s currently on sale in Japan and features Android 2.3, a 4-inch QHD LCD screen with 960×540 resolution, a 13.2MP CMOS Lumix sensor, a waterproof body (IPX5/7), Wi-fi, infrared connection, e-wallet function, and a digital TV tuner.

Panasonic was one of the first strong competitors in the micro four-thirds camera arena, and we’ve been waiting on the next iteration of the G-series cameras for months. They’ve finally announced the GX1, aimed much more at enthusiasts than the simplified GF2 and GF3. Panasonic also announced a 3D-oriented point and shoot, which to be honest doesn’t look so hot.

The GX1 seems to improve on every aspect of its predecessors, and seems to me a strong response to Olympus’ assault on Panasonic’s territory. The new 16-megapixel sensor is apparently the same as in their G3, and the body has brought back some more “pro” features. Here are the basic specs:

• 16MP M4/3 sensor
• 3″ 480×320 touchscreen
• 160-12800 ISO
• 1080i video @ 60fps
• Hot shoe and pop-up flash
• $700

The separation of this more powerful line into a separate “GX” series suggests we can expect more in the simpler GF series, while more expensive features like a built-in EVF and more powerful image processors will creep into this line.

Does it really compare to the competition, though? If you’re not too concerned with sensor size and image quality, this thing with the new 14-42 pancake could be a really sweet walkaround camera. But the truth is it’s a bit short on features when you look at the other enthusiast EVILs. Sony’s NEX-5N, while overshadowed by its NEX-7 counterpart, seems like a decent alternative, with a larger sensor and articulating screen. And Samsung’s NX200 is also more than competitive, though it does have a rather higher price tag.

There’s the option of a periscope-style EVF, but it’s not as good as the NEX’s. At $600 you just can’t expect an internal EVF, though. Personally I think it looks like sweet little camera, and DP Review says it has a nice hefty feel, which is always nice. though as usual the 1080i thing is ridiculous. If it’s 30p output (as they specify), then keep it 30p. No one wants interlacing. No one.

As for that 3D camera, well, the less said the better. Without a 3D screen it’s kind of a waste, and the specs are nothing to write home about. If you’re interested in the camera, you can find its specs and such here at the Panny press release.

He hoisted himself up a 500 meter-cliff at Grand Canyon, did his magic on the Le Mans 24 circuit in France, and traveled 500KM from Tokyo to Kyoto last year And now, he completed the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii, too.

We covered Panasonic’s plan to let its EVOLTA battery-powered mini robot start at the 230km race back in September, and now the company announced the little guy finished it on October 30.

According to Panasonic, it took the robot (in three different configurations) a total of 166 hours and 56 minutes to swim 3.8km, bike 180.2km and then run 42.2km – powered by three rechargeable EVOLTA batteries.

Panasonic Japan has announced [JP] two Android tablets for the domestic market yesterday, the so-called BizPad JT-580VT (with a 7-inch LCD screen) and the JT-581VT (with a 10.1-inch LCD). Both devices run on Android 3.2 and are specifically targeted at businesses (hence the name).

What the tablets also have in common is that they are shock-, dust-, and water-proof. For example, Panasonic says the big model can absorb drops from a height of 80cm, while the smaller one can even handle 120cm.

Both devices also have an NFC reader, a replaceable battery, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a USB port, GPS, a microSD slot, a ARM Cortex-A9 dual-core CPU, 1GB memory, 16GB flash, and infrared.

The 7-inch model (pictured above) features a 1,024×600 resolution screen, 3G as an option, a 5MP camera, and IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. It weighs 400g and will go on sale in December.

The 10-inch BizPad (pictured above) comes with a 1,280×800 resolution screen, a 1.3MP camera, and IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi. This model weighs 700g and will go on sale in Japan in January 2012.

Panasonic has yet to announce prices and possible plans to sell the BizPads outside Japan.

We’ve already shown you Panasonic‘s cool hair-washing robot on video, but the company is currently showcasing two more robots at the CEATEC 2011 tech exhibition in Japan: one is the so-called HOSPI-Rimo (an assistance robot that we covered two weeks ago), the other model is aptly named RoboticBed.

The video below shows the HOSPI-Rimo (Remote Intelligence and Mobility/pictured above) in action at CEATEC 2011. To recap, this medical, mobile robot is supposed to make it easier for bedridden patients to get in touch with doctors or family members who are living far away (“virtual visits”):

The so-called RoboticBed, which made its debut in 2009, is actually pretty awesome.

It’s essentially a bed that can transform itself into an electric wheelchair and vice versa. Panasonic says the newest version show at CEATEC 2011 is “more practical” and safer than previous models:

Via Robonable [JP]

Panasonic took the wraps off a new version of it’s super-strange (and awesome) hair-washing robot at the CEATEC 2011 tech exhibition that currently takes place in Japan (the first version is about one year old). The robot handles the entire process of hair washing autonomously: wetting, shampooing, conditioning and drying.

The new version washes your hair with a total of 24 (instead of just 16) fingers. Panasonic also says they improved the scanning system (the robot scans the head’s shape before it does its magic), allowing for a better “experience”. The old model also lacked the conditioning and drying functions.

Users can get their data (preferred washing method, shape of the head) stored to save time when getting their hair washed next time.

These videos show Panasonic’s robot in action (at CEATEC 2011):

Via Robonable [JP]

Sharp’s AQUOS PHONE 102SH wasn’t the only cool Android phone to hit the Japanese market today. Local carrier SoftBank will also start distributing the so-called LUMIX Phone 101P [JP] as part of its fall/winter line-up of new cell phones in November.

Made by Panasonic, the Android device is designed to be a mix between a phone and a digital camera (and it sure looks like it).

Here’s a list of the main specs:

• Android 2.3
• 4-inch QHD LCD screen with 960×540 resolution
• 13.2MP CMOS Lumix sensor with “Mobile Venus Engine“
• waterproof body (IPX5/7)
• TI OMAP4430 dual-core CPU (1GHz)
• compatible with SoftBank’s “Ultra Speed” high-speed data communication service (max. 21Mbps)
• microSDHC card slot
• IEEE802.11b/g/n Wifi
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
• infrared connection
• e-wallet function
• digital TV tuner
• W-CDMA, GSM
• size: 64×123×9.8mm weight: 128g

No word yet from Panasonic regarding pricing or a possible international sales plan.

Panasonic Japan announced [press release in English] the development of the so-called HOSPI-Rimo yesterday, a cute “Communication Assistance Robot” specifically designed for medical use. HOSPI-Rimo (Remote Intelligence and Mobility) is supposed to make it easier for bedridden patients to get in touch with doctors or family members living far away (“virtual visits”).

Technically, the mobile robot is based on the HOSPI, which Panasonic introduced last year. That robot is equipped with four laser range finders, 27 ultrasonic sensors and the ability to change floors in buildings autonomously.

The company explains the new model:

If a location near the target person is specified, the robot can autonomously move to that place, recognizing the surrounding environment and avoiding obstacles in the way. The robot can also be remote-controlled. Further more, in the remote control mode, the robot moves safely while correctly recognizing its surroundings.

Patients can use the HOSPI-Rimo to video-chat with other people in HD quality, too.

Panasonic plans to show the little guy, along with updated versions of their hair-washing robot and robotic bed, during the 38th International Home Care & Rehabilitation Exhibition in Tokyo next month.

Panasonic sure knows how to promote their EVOLTA brand of rechargeable batteries: first, a cute mini robot powered by the batteries hoisted itself up a 500 meter-cliff at Grand Canyon, then an EVOLTA robot took on the Le Mans 24 circuit in France, before traveling 500KM from Tokyo to Kyoto last year.

And now Panasonic announced [JP] plans to let the little guy start at the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii on October 24 (the company is to launch a line of improved EVOLTA batteries next month). In other words, the robot is supposed to swim 2.4 miles, ride a bike for 112 miles before running a marathon (26.2 miles) – all powered by EVOLTA batteries.

Panasonic says they will use one special robot for each of the challenges (see below) and that they will recharge the batteries on the way (the whole race stretches 140 miles, after all).

Panasonic expects the EVOLTA robots to complete the Ironman in about a week’s time. We’ll keep you posted.

Here’s a video showing the swimming model (running, cycling):

Via Kaden Watch [JP]

If you like consuming media on your iPhone or iPod touch that’s stored elsewhere, you might want to take a look at what Panasonic has announced [JP] for the Japanese market recently. The so-called DY-PS10 is a “pocket server” that wirelessly streams videos, music and pictures from an SD/SDHC/SDXC card to these devices.

The mini server uses IEEE 802.11b/g Wi-FI, comes with a USB port and is sized at just 66.8×117×13mm (weight: 82g). It supports video in MP4 format, MP3 files and JPEGs. Panasonic specifically targets users of DIGA hardware, for example TVs (who can take the SD card out of those devices to use it in the DY-PS10).

The company says a 64GB SDXC card stores around 88 hours of video in standard resolution, with the pocket server itself offering 10 hours of battery life.

Panasonic plans to start selling the device in their Japanese online store only on September 15 (price: $195). No international sales plans have been announced so far (but the Airstash look like a good alternative).

Two weeks ago, during an exhibition in Tokyo, Panasonic showcased an Android-based e-book reader/tablet hybrid without revealing too many details. Fast forward to today, and we have the complete spec list of the device (now named “Raboo”) plus price and availability (in Japan, at least).

First, the specs, as announced [JP] by Panasonic today:

• Android 2.2 OS
• no access to the Android Market (16 apps pre-installed)
• 7-inch LCD screen with 1,024×600 resolution
• XMDF file support
• 8GB internal memory
• microSDHC/SDHC card slots, USB port (no HDMI)
• IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
• 1.3MP web cam
• 500mW×2ch speakers
• DIGA/VIERA link
• battery life up to 6 hours (10.5 hours for music only)
• size: 206×133×13.9mm, weight: 400g

Raboo is short for Rakuten Books (Rakuten, Japan’s country’s biggest e-commerce company, will offer a total of 10,000 e-books for download from the get-go).

Panasonic Japan will start selling the device on August 10 for $445 (don’t expect this highly “Japanized” tablet to be launched anywhere else soon).

This video shows the Raboo in action:

Camera makers like to announce things randomly – no method at all. We might get ten in a night, or one a week for ten weeks. Sometimes they drop in twos, like these from Panasonic: a new super-zoom and a point-and-shoot, neither of which sets itself apart too much, but maybe one will have the right combination of features for you.

The FZ47 is their new super-zoom, with a 24x zoom and a 12.1-megapixel sensor. It’s focused on action photography, so starting up quick and taking lots of pictures at once are its priorities. It’ll shoot 3.7 per second at full rez but unfortunately the high framerate (10 fps) shooting reduces the picture size to 3 megapixels. Interestingly, when recording video, you can set the exposure and shutter manually — something even far more sophisticated cameras occasionally don’t offer. Costs $400, but as this device only shoots 1080i video, I can’t recommend it at any price. On principle I don’t recommend anything that records interlaced video. Moving on, then…

The LS5 is a bit more practical. It’s got a fairly decent 26mm F/2.8 lens and 5x zoom on top of a 14.1-megapixel sensor. It has optical image stabilization and shoots 720p video. It uses AA batteries — some people like that, you know. That’s actually all the features worth mentioning. No price information yet, but I wouldn’t pay above $150 for it if I were you.

The FZ47 will be available next month, but the LS5 won’t be around until November. I don’t think I can wait that long! Sweet LS5, come to me now! Doubtless they’ll appear on Panasonic’s Lumix site as soon as they’re ready.

The Toughbook has always been a tough sell. It’s always looked like a cross between a robot turd and the chest-plate for dirt-bike armor. It looks like they’ve improved this design considerably this time, offering a 1.7GHz Intel Core i5 processor with 2GB RAM and 160 GB hard drive with an optional 128GB SSD.

This rugged laptop weighs 3.5 pounds and has a 10.5-inch display. It can last 6.5 hours on one charge and supports twin batteries. There is also a built-in fingerprint reader as well as integrated port flaps.

This thing is a tank, to be sure, and can be dropped from about waist height without breaking. I’ve run over one before, and aside from a surface crack, it survived quite nicely.

It is available this month for about $2,400.

Product Page

Panasonic says that owners of the device can redeem bonus points they collect through purchasing e-books when buying other items on Rakuten’s marketplace (for example, clothes or food). Rakuten plans to open their e-book store to owners of the Sony e-book reader in the future, too.

The new Panasonic device has a 7-inch LCD touchscreen (1,024×600 resolution), a dual-core CPU (specs TBD), Wi-Fi, a camera (specs TBD), a microSDHC slot, and 16 apps pre-installed (a browser, mail client, Adobe reader, etc.).

Panasonic plans to start rolling out the device in Japan as early as next month (the price is yet to be fixed). In Japan, it will compete with the Sharp Galapagos Android e-book reader.

Our friends from Diginfonews in Tokyo went out and shot this video of the device (it’s in English):